Banff Centre Board of Governors

JEFF KOVITZ, QC

Chair — Board of Governors

(Governor since July 2003)

(Canmore) Jeff Kovitz is the president of TouchSend Corporation which specializes in real estate development project management. TouchSend Corporation has also developed custom software, and has done so for Microsoft Corporation, Intel Corporation, SAP, Petro-Canada, Alliance Pipeline, and others.

A leading Canadian expert in the use of technology in politics, Jeff has developed sophisticated techniques for polling, tracking, call center management, and voter identification. He has developed and implemented software for political leadership contests and elections throughout Canada.

Jeff has served on the boards of Alberta Ballet, Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary Accessible Housing Society, Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation, the Goodwill Industries of Alberta advisory board, the Provincial Court Nominating Committee for the Province of Alberta, the Expert Advisory Panel on Publicly Funded Healthcare in the Province of Alberta, and the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Grandstand Attractions Committee. Jeff serves on the executive of the Alberta Association of Colleges and Technical Institutes (AACTI) as a vice chair, Council of Board Chairs. He is a former member of the Premier's Council on Arts and Culture.

Jeff holds degrees in science and law from the University of Toronto, was admitted to the Bar in Alberta in 1973, and was awarded a Queen's Counsel from the Province of Alberta in 1990 and an Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005.

Jeff has four children and resides in Canmore.

JEFF MELANSON

President — The Banff Centre

(Governor since January 2012)

Jeff Melanson was appointed president of The Banff Centre on January 1, 2012. Melanson holds a bachelor of music from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, where he studied opera, Russian art song, and choral conducting. Melanson also pursued vocal studies at the Oberlin Conservatory. He holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.

From 1998 to 2000, Melanson was the director of development for Opera Ontario. In March 2000, he was appointed assistant dean of the Community School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and at the end of 2001, he was promoted to dean. In his role as dean of RCM’s Community School, Melanson was instrumental in building the program into the largest community arts school in North America.

In 2006, Melanson was appointed executive director and co-chief executive officer of Canada’s National Ballet School. In his time at NBS, he was instrumental in eliminating a significant annual operating deficit, increasing annual revenues by over 50 per cent, overseeing the completion of NBS’s residence renovations, and creating new strategic partnerships with many non-profit and for-profit arts and entertainment corporations.

Melanson is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and a trustee with the National Guild for Community Arts Education (US). He is a frequent guest lecturer on arts management to arts students and MBA classes from universities across North America and around the world, and was the first arts leader to be appointed one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40™ for 2009. In 2010, Melanson was named Wilfrid Laurier University’s MBA Alumnus of the Year. In November 2010, Melanson was appointed special advisor on arts and culture to Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

LINDA BLACK, QC

Vice-Chair — Board of Governors
(Governor since November 2010)

Linda was born in St. John’s and did her undergraduate studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She received her LL.B. from Dalhousie University in 1975 and her LL.M. from the University in Ottawa. Linda worked in various roles in the Newfoundland public service including the senior executive administration. Moving to Calgary in 1994, she became founding General Counsel at the University of Calgary and retired from there in 2003. Linda is a member of the bars of Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador. She lives in Canmore and Calgary, and she and her husband Doug have a daughter in Calgary and a son in Toronto.

While in Newfoundland, Linda served on the CNIB National Library Board and the Canadian Association of Synchronized Swimming. In Alberta, Linda has been a member of the governing boards of Strathcona Tweedsmuir School, the Alberta Board of Certified Management Accountants, the Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness, and Mount Royal University. For several years, until her resignation in 2011, Linda was a member of the Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board and in 2007, a member of the Government of Canada’s Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP. Currently Linda is on the board of directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

JACK DAVIS

(Governor since July 2006)

In 1999 Jack Davis was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Calgary Health Region, one of the fastest growing heath regions in Alberta. He had spent the previous five years as Deputy Minister in various Province of Alberta departments, and as Deputy Solicitor General of Alberta for two years.

Jack graduated from the University of Regina with a bachelor of psychology and philosophy (B.A. Honours), and is accredited as a chartered psychologist. He has served on several boards, including the Alberta Social Housing Corporation, Alberta Energy and Utilities Advisory Board, Scripps Foundation for Medicine and Science, and Mount Royal College.

JOAN FORGE

(Governor since June 2009)

Born and raised in Ontario, Joan relocated to Alberta in 1979 and has considered herself an Albertan ever since.

After several years in the banking, newspaper, and agri-food business and with Economic Development Edmonton, Joan was appointed executive assistant to the Honourable Iris Evans, Minister of Municipal Affairs. Joan spent two years in this political position responsible for communications, issues management, media and public relations, legislative strategies, and managing the Minister’s office.

In 1999, Joan joined the Edmonton 2001 World Championships in Athletics, the third largest sporting event in the world, as director of communications. She was also a member of the senior management team, ticket sales strategy committee and chaired the multi-party communications committee and the issues management team.

After wrapping up the track and field championships in early 2002, Joan opened Forge Ahead Communications, her own consulting business specializing in government and public relations.

Joan is a member of the Alberta’s Promise Premiers Council, Kids with Cancer Dream Committee, and ALS Society Advocacy Committee. As well as being involved in many events in Edmonton, Joan’s past community and volunteer involvement include: Kids Kottage, ASTECH Awards, Make-A-Wish Foundation, World Figure Skating Championships, Bell Walk for Kids — Kids Help Phone, NAIT Cruise, Canadian Culinary Team, and the 2002 Grey Cup. Recently, Joan spearheaded the newly formed Edmonton Eskimo Wives Endowment Fund for ovarian cancer research in conjunction with the Edmonton Eskimo Women’s Dinner.

JILL GARDINER

Chair — Audit, Finance, and Investment Committee
(Governor since June 2008)

Jill Gardiner was managing director and regional head (British Columbia) for RBC Capital Markets, Canada’s largest investment bank until she retired on March 31, 2009. She was responsible for the firm’s investment banking practice in British Columbia as well as management of RBC Capital Market’s Vancouver office. She was also a member of the Canadian Investment Banking Management Committee, the Investment Banking Promotions Committee, the Fairness Opinion Committee, and Council for the Advancement of Women. Over the 20 plus years that Jill was in the investment banking business, she had various roles in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and debt capital markets including head of the Forest Products Group and Head of the Global Utilities Group.

Prior to joining the investment banking business, Jill was a senior project manager at the Ontario Energy Board and a lecturer at the University of Victoria’s Business and Public Administration Schools.

Jill currently sits on the board of directors of Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities and Timber Investments (Tolko Industries) and is a member of the board of governors of The Banff Centre. She has previously served on the board of trustees of the Vancouver Art Gallery and the board of governors of S.A.I.T. Polytechnic.

Jill graduated from Queen’s University with a B.Sc. (O.T.) in 1980 and a MBA in 1984.

CHRISTIANE GERMAIN

(Governor since April 2008)

Christiane Germain is the strategist behind the Groupe Germain’s marketing campaigns. She is also in charge of operations for both the Le Germain and ALT Hotels brands.

Energetic, persistent, and inventive, Christiane has left her mark on the hospitality industry. She studied hotel and restaurant management in Toronto and completed an internship at a restaurant in San Francisco before returning to work with her family and opening no fewer than three restaurant-bars and two luxury hotels in the Quebec City area.

She then expanded her field of operations by opening hotels in Montreal and Toronto and, in 2007, establishing a long overdue alternative to the typical mid-range hotel experience with ALT Hotels. In 2006, she announced that Le Groupe Germain was expanding their line of luxury boutique hotels with a new “Le Germain Living” development in Calgary. This development project was the first such complex to be built in Calgary, encompassing a hotel, office tower, and residences development.

In addition to running a fast-growing company, Christiane was a former president of the Quebec City Tourism and Convention Board, Quebec City Summer Festival, and the Restaurant Owners’ Association, and sits on a number of other corporate boards.

CHRISTOPHER HILBERT

(Governor since June 2009)

Christopher Hilbert is a partner in the New York office of Jones Day, one of the world's largest international law firms. He is a transactional lawyer and business law adviser who represents U.S. and non-U.S. corporations, institutional investors, and investment funds in a wide variety of corporate transactions and other matters across the United States. Chris has represented Canadian business interests in the United States for over 25 years. In 2009, 2010, and 2012, he was named to the BTI Client Service All-Star Team for Law Firms, which names those lawyers providing exemplary service based on recommendations by corporate counsel at large and Fortune 1000 companies.

Chris graduated in 1973 from Amherst College (summa cum laude in economics) and in 1976 from Harvard Law School. Over the years, he has provided pro bono legal services to various charitable organizations in New York. Chris works in New York City and lives with his wife and two children in Rye, New York.

LEROY LITTLE BEAR, JD

(Governor since June 2010)

Leroy Little Bear is a member of the Small Robes Band of the Blood Indian Tribe, Blackfoot Confederacy, and was born and raised on the Blood Indian Reserve. He is the former director of the American Indian Program, Harvard University, and the current chair of Native Studies, University of Lethbridge. In 2003, Little Bear was awarded the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Education and in 2006 received an honourary doctorate from the University of Lethbridge. He has written several articles and co-edited three books that include Pathways to Self-Determination: Canadian Indians and the Canadian State (1984), Quest for Justice: Aboriginal Peoples and Aboriginal Rights (1985), and Governments in Conflict and Indian Nations in Canada (1988). He contributed to the book Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision (2000). Little Bear is recognized as a leader in the advancement of North American Indian philosophy.

RALSTON E. MacDONNELL, M. Eng., P. Eng.

(Governor since January 2011)

Ralston MacDonnell is the president of MacDonnell Group, a Canadian company with interests in engineering, management, and innovative technologies. He has been a relentless proponent of technology transfer and innovation as instruments of economic development and has been involved with cutting edge infrastructure design since the early 80s. The MacDonnell Group pioneered the construction of the world’s first steel-free bridge and wharf decks, technology that could extend the life of these structures to 100 years, and are implementing unique structural health monitoring systems in bridges, buildings, and marine structures, and increasing the knowledge base of Canadian transportation workers with unique training offerings in the field.

Ralston supports organizations committed to creativity. He is a member of the board of governors of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and a past chairman of the board of governors of the NSCAD University. He is chairman of the advisory board of the ISIS Canada Resource Centre at the University of Manitoba and vice chairman of the board of directors of ISIS Canada. Ralston is past president of the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia and has served on the boards of Engineers Canada, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada, InNOVAcorp, and the Technical University of Nova Scotia. He is a past chairman of the board of governors of Sacred Heart School of Halifax.

Ralston holds a bachelor of science from St. Mary’s University and bachelor and masters of engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is a fellow of Engineers Canada, the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering ,and the Engineering Institute of Canada, and a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. Ralston and his wife Charlene are longtime residents of Nova Scotia.

BRENDA MACKIE

(Governor since December 2008)

Brenda Mackie was born in Calgary then moved to Winnipeg where she graduated from Balmoral Hall School in 1970. She attended the University of Calgary for one year and continued her studies at the University of Western Ontario where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1974.

Brenda was co-owner of the Owl’s Nest Bookstore for nine years beginning in January 1996. The business was expanded in 2001 to include Owlets children’s bookstore. After many happy years as a bookseller, she sold her interest to her partner and his wife in 2004.

Brenda is a strong leader in the community. While her children were growing up she volunteered and participated in various school committees and at the Glencoe club. She was a member of the steering committee of the Markin-Flanagan Writer-in-Residence program at the University of Calgary Faculty of Humanities for four years and since 2005, she co-chaired the Reach! campaign. She is a member of the Community and Partners Advisory Committee at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and an active advisory member of ThinkFirst, Calgary. She is also a longstanding member of the Altar Guild at Christ Church, as well as a member of Social Venture Partners Calgary.

TRINA MCQUEEN

Chair — Governance Committee
(Governor since April 2009)

Trina McQueen is adjunct professor of broadcast management at Schulich School of Business at York University. She sits on the boards of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, McClelland and Stewart Publishers, the Canadian Opera Company, and Historica. She is on the advisory board of the Canadian Literary Review.

Mrs. McQueen retired as president and COO of CTV Inc. She began her 35-year career in television as an on-air journalist; and was CBC’s head of News, Current Affairs and Newsworld, and the founding president of the Discovery Channel, before joining CTV.

She has had a life-long interest in education and the arts. She has been chair of the Banff Television Foundation, chair of the Governor-General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation, and has served on the boards of the Canadian Stage Company, PEN Canada, Telefilm Canada, and the Canadian Television Fund. In education, she was a governor of the University of Waterloo and served on advisory boards at Queen’s, Ryerson, the University of Regina, and Carleton.

Mrs. McQueen is an Officer of the Order of Canada. She has been named to the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame and the Canadian News Hall of Fame. Among other honours, she has received the Canadian Journalism Foundation Award of Excellence and the Banff World Television Festival Lifetime Achievement Award.

SUSAN PETERSON

(Governor since July 2009)

Susan Peterson was appointed associate deputy minister of Canadian Heritage by the Prime Minister of Canada in 2004 and served in that capacity until 2009. Prior to this appointment, Susan held other senior positions in the public service of Canada, serving five ministers of finance with the Department of Finance from 1985 to 2002, and two Prime Ministers in the Privy Council Office from 1981 to 1985. While with the Department of Canadian Heritage, she served on the board of directors of the Canadian Television Fund.

Before joining the public service, Susan worked with the private sector through the Conference Board of Canada, specializing in matters concerning corporate boards of directors and corporate public affairs. As well, she worked for the Parliamentary Centre for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and taught philosophy at Carleton University. She is now president of Intercounsel Ltd.

Susan has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of British Columbia, a master of arts from Carleton University, and did doctoral work at the University of London, England. She completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School, and the Directors Education Program at the Institute of Corporate Directors/Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto.

Susan and her husband, Thomas d'Aquino, live in Ottawa.

JOSEPH C. SHLESINGER

(Governor since February 2009)

Joe Shlesinger is a managing director of Callisto Capital, one of Canada’s leading mid-market private equity firms, with interests in the healthcare, energy services, and environmental testing sectors of the economy. Before joining Callisto in 2003, Joe spent 17 years with Bain & Company, one of the world’s leading strategy consulting firms, where he worked in the UK, the US, and was the founder and leader of the firm’s Canadian operations.

He graduated from Ryerson Polytechnic University with a bachelor of applied arts (journalism) and then completed his MBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Joe is on the advisory board of the Richard Ivey School of Business (where he chairs the development committee) and on the boards of directors of companies in which Callisto invests. He and his wife, Samara Walbohm, live in Toronto with their three children.

ARNI C. THORSTEINSON, CFA

(Governor since July 2006)

Arni Thorsteinson is president and principal of Shelter Canadian Properties Limited. He has over 35 years experience in real estate development and finance. Arni is a founder of Lanesborough, Huntingdon, Temple and White Rock Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Arni is a chairman of the board of the advisory board of Canadian Aspen Properties Ltd., as well as chairman of the Vision Capital Fund Advisory Board. He is also a director of Ben Moss Jewellers Ltd. and Onex Corporation, as well as a trustee of the Bird Construction Income Fund. Arni obtained his chartered financial analyst designation in 1974 and also holds a bachelor of commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Manitoba.

ROBERT D. WALKER

Chair — Campus Development Committee
(Governor since January 2010)

Robert Walker is a senior construction executive with over 35 years in the design, development, and construction industry.

Robert joined Ledcor Construction Limited in 1997 as vice president, northern Alberta, after 16 years as owner of a western Canadian-based project management company. The Ledcor Group of Companies is Canada’s second largest multidiscipline construction firm with 14 offices throughout North America.

Robert has directed the design and construction of some of Edmonton’s most high profile capital projects including Edmonton City Hall, Telus Baseball Stadium, and the new Art Gallery of Alberta. He is a past member of the board of directors of the Citadel Theatre, NAIT, and the Grant MacEwan College Foundation, among many others. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Kids with Cancer Society and Edmonton Northlands, and is a co-chair of the Premier’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament.